Government Shutdown Forces Travelers to Choose Rails Over Air Travel

A government budget standoff caused major airport delays, prompting some travelers to abandon flights for train travel. One journalist's overnight journey from Atlanta to Washington aboard Amtrak's Crescent offered a unique perspective on American travel and politics.

TRAVELING ON AMTRAK’S CRESCENT — The beauty of watching dawn break over quiet countryside, interrupted only by the steady rhythm of train wheels, offers a peaceful contrast to modern travel chaos.

But this particular rail journey wasn’t chosen for scenic reasons — it was a response to political gridlock.

A budget standoff between Congress and then-President Donald Trump, centered on immigration enforcement and federal tactics in American cities, had disrupted one of modern life’s basic assumptions: reliable air travel.

At Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport — famously promoted as the globe’s busiest — the situation had deteriorated into controlled pandemonium. Federal workers going without pay were staying home, leaving skeleton security crews to handle frustrated passengers facing multi-hour delays. Needing to reach Washington for March Madness basketball games, the traveler opted for certainty over speed, booking an overnight train journey spanning 650 miles.

During this tense period in American politics, the slower pace provided time to reflect on conveniences typically taken for granted. Few people consider the marvel of aviation that enables our fast-paced modern lifestyle — we simply purchase tickets and board. It’s even less common to contemplate the inconvenience when that system fails.

This choice represented a step backward in time, to the 1800s and another transformative invention: cross-country rail service.

The 14½-hour weekend rail trip provided ample opportunity to recognize how thoroughly politics, economics, social tensions, and debates over identity and inclusion have always shaped our daily routines, including our transportation choices across America. Amtrak’s Crescent route also revealed the diversity of our shared national experience.

The journey crossed urban centers, suburbs, and rural communities along the Eastern Seaboard. Fellow passengers shared their own travel stories, creating a picture of Americans — both historical and contemporary — who refuse to remain as immobilized as their political representatives.

Late-night train stations lack any sense of glamour. Exhausted parents manage children well past their bedtimes. Elderly passengers wrestle with heavy bags and challenging staircases.

Airports aren’t exactly glamorous either, naturally. However, Delta’s Atlanta-to-Washington route carries a certain prestige. These flights normally require about two hours from departure to arrival. They’re frequently assigned to central gates in the concourse closest to the main terminal — likely accommodating Congress members who rely on this route but have lost airline privileges during the extended government closure.

Under typical conditions, travel from doorstep to Capitol Hill or downtown Washington takes as little as 4½ hours. Current security delays could easily double that air travel duration.

Train travel takes longer, and conventional wisdom says time equals money. However, predictability also holds value, even with an 11:29 p.m. departure. At the train station, there were no motionless queues, no TSA personnel, no immigration agents serving as substitutes.

Travelers arriving just minutes before departure successfully boarded and located seats immediately — assigned by boarding sequence rather than predetermined zones that create crowded aisles. There’s no meal service or satellite television. But even standard coach seating, Amtrak’s basic option, offers as much space as airline first-class accommodations — plus Wi-Fi connectivity, so it’s not entirely antiquated.

During the trip, one crew member joked, “I’m no TSA agent.”

Growing up in rural Alabama, the author remembered counting train cars and imagining their destinations. Family records later revealed diary entries and correspondence from his grandmother and her sisters describing World War II-era weekend excursions to Atlanta.

The South’s major metropolis carries historical significance as well. Initially called “Terminus,” Atlanta emerged before the Civil War as a crucial junction where north-south and east-west railroad lines intersected. This strategic importance attracted General William Tecumseh Sherman for one of the Civil War’s pivotal campaigns that contributed to Confederate defeat.

A hundred years after the Civil War ended, Delta Airlines selected Atlanta for its corporate headquarters instead of Birmingham, Alabama, which was the larger metropolitan area according to 1960 census data. The company’s choice involved tax incentives for the airline, which took its name from its origins as a crop-dusting operation in the Mississippi Delta. Some analysts suggest Delta’s decision was influenced by the more blatant racism displayed by Alabama and Birmingham officials defending Jim Crow laws — regulations that included segregating passenger trains that preceded Amtrak.

On this evening, multiple languages and regional accents could be heard, particularly meaningful considering immigrant workers’ role in constructing America’s rail network and especially relevant given immigration’s current prominence in Washington policy debates. The passenger mix reflected American diversity, quite different from what previous generations would have encountered decades earlier.

This variety of voices praised rail travel’s convenience and accessibility. Agatha Grimes and her companions, who boarded in Greensboro, North Carolina, during a long weekend celebrating her 62nd birthday, shared this sentiment.

“I got stuck in the Atlanta airport last week,” Grimes explained, while her group shared laughs in the dining car. “It’s just nuts.”

Beretta Nunnally, describing herself as a “train veteran” who planned their journey, added, “There’s no worry about parking. No checking bags. You come to the station, you get where you going, and you come home.”

However, such convenience isn’t as accessible in America as it once was.

The same political and economic forces and government subsidies that expanded U.S. railroads later weakened the network as automobile manufacturers, petroleum companies, highway construction firms, and eventually aircraft manufacturers and airlines gained political influence and consumer preference.

Traveling for hours through rural regions, the author observed salvage yards where invasive vines and chain-link barriers surrounded rows of corroded vehicles. Farmland and agricultural machinery that help sustain cities and the broader nation were visible. Dawn revealed Charlotte, North Carolina’s illuminated office buildings and NFL stadium. Thriving county centers appeared — bringing to mind countless similar communities that struggle economically, isolated from passenger rail service and distant from the Interstate Highway System that the train crossed repeatedly.

In each location, voters across the political spectrum — conservatives, progressives, extremists, and moderates — have elected the representatives, senators, and president who now guide the nation’s direction.

Upon reaching Washington, the traveler paused to admire Union Station’s magnificent main hall and its classical architectural beauty, while regretting how much grandeur has been lost through the demolition of many impressive American terminals. Stepping outside, the Capitol dome came into view.

During the overnight journey, the Senate had reached a bipartisan agreement to fund the entire Department of Homeland Security except immigration enforcement operations. As the story continued developing, House Republican leadership rejected the proposal. The political deadlock persisted.

Though tired from travel, the author felt reinvigorated as a citizen. There was a basketball game to attend. And the train continued its journey.